1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electric power distribution systems and more particularly to an electric power distribution system which can be rapidly reconfigured in real time to provide uninterrupted power to certain load(s) under variable operating conditions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Continuous availability of electric power is necessary in a variety of environments, one of which is in naval vessels such as ships in the current fleet of the U.S. Navy, and in future all electric ships. Uninterruptible power enables uninterruptible war fighting capability and enhanced survivability by providing reliable power to all loads under all conditions, even in the presence of significant battle damage or major system faults. Such an electrical distribution system employs a source of AC power which is fed to the load(s) through a combination of circuit breakers, current limiting devices and bus transfer switches.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement in electrical power distribution systems.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improvement in electrical distribution systems which can be rapidly reconfigured on demand to provide substantially uninterrupted power.
And it is yet another object of the invention to provide an improved electrical distribution system employing solid state technology for implementing a bus transfer switch so as to provide uninterrupted power of all loads, particularly critical loads such as computers, under adverse operating conditions.
These and other objects are achieved by an electrical power distribution system including an automatic bus transfer switch, consisting of two sets of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBTs) connected in series in a back-to-back circuit configuration with respective intrinsic semiconductor diodes that are internal to the device in parallel with the current conducting terminals thereof so as to provide a static AC switch configuration which implements a fight-through bus transfer switch wherein only one set of switches is turned on at any one time and thus provide power to one or more load(s) from either of a primary or an alternate AC source and wherein one transistor and a diode across the other transistor conduct in each half cycle of the AC power waveform.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific example, while providing the preferred embodiment of the invention, is provided by way of illustration only, thus various changes and modifications coming within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description.